-
Stop lurking! Stay logged in to search, review beers, post in our forums, see less ads, and more.
— Todd, Founder of BeerAdvocate
Anabasis
Side Project Brewing


Beer Geek Stats
| Print Shelf Talker
- From:
- Side Project Brewing
- Missouri, United States
- Style:
- American Barleywine
Ranked #3 - ABV:
- 14%
- Score:
- 100
Ranked #24 - Avg:
- 4.68 | pDev: 5.13%
- Reviews:
- 42
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- May 16, 2023
- Added:
- Feb 09, 2015
- Wants:
- 217
- Gots:
- 22
SCORE
100
World-Class
100
World-Class


Notes:
Anabasis [uh-nab-uh-sis] is one of our favorite beers. A beer in which we haven't adjusted anything as far as recipe, water, hopping or fermentation since is was a homebrew. However, we continually experiment with different barrels and resting times, always trying to find harmony in this American/English-inspired Barleywine.
Blend #6 - aged in Blantons barrels for 19 months and Willett Family Estate Rye barrels for 26 months.
For the 5th blend, Anabasis was put into oak on October 8th of 2018 where it rested in Blanton's and Weller 12yr barrels. After 27 months, we chose a blend which consisted of 38.4% aged in Blanton's and 61.6% aged in the Weller 12yr. Blanton's is a perennial favorite for this recipe and consistently compliments the Anabasis profile. Weller 12yr barrels have always proven successful (D2 and DM also rested in Weller 12yr), but exhibit a softer finish to the already hoppy and assertive Anabasis.
Blend #5: Aged in Blanton's and Weller 12-year Barrels for 27 months, then blended.
Blend #4: Rested for 2 years in Blanton’s and Eagle Rare barrels before blending and deciding it was ready to share with you.
Blend #3: Aged for 24 months in Heaven Hill Barrels.
Blend #2: Aged in a blend of Blanton's and Elijah Craig 12yr Barrels.
Blend #1: Aged in a Blanton's barrel.
Blend #6 - aged in Blantons barrels for 19 months and Willett Family Estate Rye barrels for 26 months.
For the 5th blend, Anabasis was put into oak on October 8th of 2018 where it rested in Blanton's and Weller 12yr barrels. After 27 months, we chose a blend which consisted of 38.4% aged in Blanton's and 61.6% aged in the Weller 12yr. Blanton's is a perennial favorite for this recipe and consistently compliments the Anabasis profile. Weller 12yr barrels have always proven successful (D2 and DM also rested in Weller 12yr), but exhibit a softer finish to the already hoppy and assertive Anabasis.
Blend #5: Aged in Blanton's and Weller 12-year Barrels for 27 months, then blended.
Blend #4: Rested for 2 years in Blanton’s and Eagle Rare barrels before blending and deciding it was ready to share with you.
Blend #3: Aged for 24 months in Heaven Hill Barrels.
Blend #2: Aged in a blend of Blanton's and Elijah Craig 12yr Barrels.
Blend #1: Aged in a Blanton's barrel.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Reviewed by REVZEB from Illinois
4.65/5 rDev -0.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
4.65/5 rDev -0.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
Blend #5. Thanks to Luscious_Malfoy for hooking me up with this bottle! So the appearance is not a looker: sludgy brown body, no head, but the rest of this beer is breathtaking. Big rich and complex rustic bourbon barrel, barley, toasted caramel, tons of dark fruit, rye, molasses, char, black licorice, vanillins, and leather nose. Taste is similar: adds slight anise no licorice and char though, oxidized sugars with attached earthiness, vanillins emerge over time more. Feel is thick and warm with great barrel character, barley splashes on the palate in such a smooth way, luxurious and complex, though heavy. Met the hype!
May 06, 2023Reviewed by Sandis from Minnesota
4.63/5 rDev -1.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
4.63/5 rDev -1.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
Blend 5 poured from a 750ml bottle into a tulip. Perfectly sweet. Nicely thick. This ranks up their with some of the best Revolution BW in my opinion.
Mar 27, 2023Reviewed by M-Fox24 from New Jersey
4.02/5 rDev -14.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
4.02/5 rDev -14.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
A: A zinnwaldite brown discharge to the carafe with a Fisher Cat disguise, as the highlights near a Ruddy Duck tint. The stabilizing agents on the collar lack the hydrophobic polypeptides to substantiate; nonetheless, they are attuned to the design through brevity. As such, an output that has a Cassava toned neck, and a Roman Mushroom hued rim. The latticework suffers from the negative – appropriate – materials, but there’s a residue leeway using gentle agitation. This necessities at the launch, which is hastily cut inside the minute(s), as a new nuance defines the drippy – cathedral – windows
S: The blend plays to the barrels with an accompany netting over the malts, while thickly layering esters atop hop sanities. Chiefly, a presence on acetates that pushes a solvent characteristic above the finer points, as they struggle – against epoxy – at the outset. Nonetheless, an oak derivative that midriffs on furfurals, which benefit the grain bill, by advancing the sweet caramel notations around Colomba di Pasqua. The road has a Rabitos Royale cusp with a cherry cordial prompt, as sultanas devise Boerenjongens. Moreover, a chord on orange blossom honey, which pursues a robust earthiness, while transmitting coniferous woodlands. This simulates treks covering Douglas Fir & Scots Pine trees, while natural Copal resins air above. Subsequently, a balmy increment to the hour, for attuning burnt sugar toffee to the skins of grapes, as the schedule concatenates on ethyl hexanoates. Namely, aniseed upon sundried apples, while the cask to malt ratio encompasses an oak plank grit on Moravian Wafers. The ventilation across the clocked periods delivers caved Moscatel congruities, which meld Raisin Marmalatas into eucalyptus shrubs. In due course, a @ > 80°F that sticks an aridness on guaiacols over beeswax, while a meerschaum presence stains vintage – vinylon – coats
T: An isoamyl octanoate shadow to the deeply drawn hemicelluloses, where the oak structures pitch lipid derivatives. There is a solvent continuation, which is calmer than the odors let on, yet a paint to wood varnish – remnant – remains over the initial records. The direction incorporates Daim bars to German nougat sweets, as Vínartertas concoct. Underneath, a drawing on teakwood, by a deciduous nature, beyond vanilla agroforests. Secondly, a recognition – of the diastatic enzyme conversions – that benefits the malt saccharifications over maple crème caramels, while drawing on Peruvian coffees. There is an earthy hop poise to the residual sweetness, which lends a woodsy bite to the course. In doing so, the blend advances without choking, and furthers the development behind acetates, as tied to the cask enhancements. A development that’s constantly subjected to the °F upticks, as open air addresses the carafe, for an oxidized maturity outside the porous wood doings. In this situation, the process provokes vintage Armagnacs, where peculiar leathers top candid fruits, besides dated mink boots against flue-cured tobacco. A continuation that hints at shabby – masonry – chimneys, while phenolic compounds deliver eugenols over the charred lactone sentients
M: A texture that delineates a sharp bite across barbed resins, which imbalances the kick-off. Coupled with, tannin constitutions, for elevating (& refining) dry executions against a soft glutinousness. As such, a dexterity with a sensitive viscosity through a warming decree, yet careful on the inebriant malaises, as carbonation brings a soft effervescence. The output lends a harmonic bitterness with a greenery balance, by the phased hop pillars
O: Emphasizes the 26mths to 19mths with a warm barrel perceptiveness, which is slightly furthered outside the necessary transfers, considering a start that battles to make inroads. A blend that has a robust grain bill, where temperaments platform in steps, as reconciliations take place on the divergences
Jan 12, 2023S: The blend plays to the barrels with an accompany netting over the malts, while thickly layering esters atop hop sanities. Chiefly, a presence on acetates that pushes a solvent characteristic above the finer points, as they struggle – against epoxy – at the outset. Nonetheless, an oak derivative that midriffs on furfurals, which benefit the grain bill, by advancing the sweet caramel notations around Colomba di Pasqua. The road has a Rabitos Royale cusp with a cherry cordial prompt, as sultanas devise Boerenjongens. Moreover, a chord on orange blossom honey, which pursues a robust earthiness, while transmitting coniferous woodlands. This simulates treks covering Douglas Fir & Scots Pine trees, while natural Copal resins air above. Subsequently, a balmy increment to the hour, for attuning burnt sugar toffee to the skins of grapes, as the schedule concatenates on ethyl hexanoates. Namely, aniseed upon sundried apples, while the cask to malt ratio encompasses an oak plank grit on Moravian Wafers. The ventilation across the clocked periods delivers caved Moscatel congruities, which meld Raisin Marmalatas into eucalyptus shrubs. In due course, a @ > 80°F that sticks an aridness on guaiacols over beeswax, while a meerschaum presence stains vintage – vinylon – coats
T: An isoamyl octanoate shadow to the deeply drawn hemicelluloses, where the oak structures pitch lipid derivatives. There is a solvent continuation, which is calmer than the odors let on, yet a paint to wood varnish – remnant – remains over the initial records. The direction incorporates Daim bars to German nougat sweets, as Vínartertas concoct. Underneath, a drawing on teakwood, by a deciduous nature, beyond vanilla agroforests. Secondly, a recognition – of the diastatic enzyme conversions – that benefits the malt saccharifications over maple crème caramels, while drawing on Peruvian coffees. There is an earthy hop poise to the residual sweetness, which lends a woodsy bite to the course. In doing so, the blend advances without choking, and furthers the development behind acetates, as tied to the cask enhancements. A development that’s constantly subjected to the °F upticks, as open air addresses the carafe, for an oxidized maturity outside the porous wood doings. In this situation, the process provokes vintage Armagnacs, where peculiar leathers top candid fruits, besides dated mink boots against flue-cured tobacco. A continuation that hints at shabby – masonry – chimneys, while phenolic compounds deliver eugenols over the charred lactone sentients
M: A texture that delineates a sharp bite across barbed resins, which imbalances the kick-off. Coupled with, tannin constitutions, for elevating (& refining) dry executions against a soft glutinousness. As such, a dexterity with a sensitive viscosity through a warming decree, yet careful on the inebriant malaises, as carbonation brings a soft effervescence. The output lends a harmonic bitterness with a greenery balance, by the phased hop pillars
O: Emphasizes the 26mths to 19mths with a warm barrel perceptiveness, which is slightly furthered outside the necessary transfers, considering a start that battles to make inroads. A blend that has a robust grain bill, where temperaments platform in steps, as reconciliations take place on the divergences
Rated by NolaHopHead from Louisiana
4.76/5 rDev +1.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
4.76/5 rDev +1.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
Blend 6
Dec 18, 2022Reviewed by cdinardo21 from Pennsylvania
4.84/5 rDev +3.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
4.84/5 rDev +3.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
Blend #6 - Loads of charred toffee accented by hints of nuts, raisin and chocolate. Very strong molasses notes on the back end. Great flavor across the full palate. Does not lack. Truly enjoyable experience.
Dec 05, 2022Reviewed by DIM from Pennsylvania
4.49/5 rDev -4.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.49/5 rDev -4.1%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Blend #6
This extremely deep and dense, absolutely American in character. Lots of charred toffee accented by hints of candied nuts, bakers chocolate, dates, and raisins up front. The finish adds intense, woody tobacco, leafy hops, light spice, earthy vanilla, and an intensely boozy exhale. I also get a pretty strong molasses note throughout Absolutely nothing subtle or subdued about this, but it's a helluva lot of fun to drink. Falls just half a tick shy of living up to the hype. Looking forward to the second glass tomorrow or the next day.
Nov 10, 2022This extremely deep and dense, absolutely American in character. Lots of charred toffee accented by hints of candied nuts, bakers chocolate, dates, and raisins up front. The finish adds intense, woody tobacco, leafy hops, light spice, earthy vanilla, and an intensely boozy exhale. I also get a pretty strong molasses note throughout Absolutely nothing subtle or subdued about this, but it's a helluva lot of fun to drink. Falls just half a tick shy of living up to the hype. Looking forward to the second glass tomorrow or the next day.
Reviewed by Kapaopango from Spain
4.5/5 rDev -3.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
4.5/5 rDev -3.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
Exceptional example of barrel aged barley wine. If you let it open it develops very good giving layers and layers of pleasant aromas and taste. Caramel, bourbon, wood... once in a lifetime experience!
Apr 15, 2022Reviewed by drdiesel9483 from Ohio
4.81/5 rDev +2.8%
look: 4.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
4.81/5 rDev +2.8%
look: 4.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
Blend#4
Look - brown is so dark it’s almost black. Great rimming and lacing
Smell - so much barrel, woody and caramel. Dark fruit like fig and slight chocolate
Taste - chocolate fig caramel so much barrel, boozy warming
Feel - thick and creamy with a light carb
Overall - fantastic
Mar 27, 2022Look - brown is so dark it’s almost black. Great rimming and lacing
Smell - so much barrel, woody and caramel. Dark fruit like fig and slight chocolate
Taste - chocolate fig caramel so much barrel, boozy warming
Feel - thick and creamy with a light carb
Overall - fantastic
Rated by bret27 from California
3.9/5 rDev -16.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.9/5 rDev -16.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
Batch 4
Jan 09, 2022Reviewed by Hefewiseman from Florida
4.85/5 rDev +3.6%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
4.85/5 rDev +3.6%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
Drank this right after trying DO ADWTD. This one is clearly an American barleywine after having something much sweeter before it. Although it is still sweet, you can taste a hoppiness in the background. The barrel character is perfect and the body is thick, but not syrupy. World class!
Dec 13, 2021Reviewed by GreatStoutman from Texas
5/5 rDev +6.8%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
5/5 rDev +6.8%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5
B4. Amazing beer from start to finish. Huge body more like a thick stout. Loads of dark fruit, booze tobacco fig and all that good stuff. Long, sticky finish. Can’t ask for much more.
Dec 08, 2021
Anabasis from Side Project Brewing
Beer rating:
100 out of
100 with
272 ratings
We love reviews (150 characters or more)! Check out: How to Review a Beer. You don't need to get fancy. Drop some thoughts on the beer's attributes (look, smell, taste, feel) plus your overall impression. Something that backs up your rating and helps others. Thanks!